Beef-chilling rack and method



Aug. 13, 1929. J. E. COVEY BEEF CHILLING BACK AND METHOD Filed July 50, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 O O O O O O Aug. 13, 1929. J. E. covEY BEEF CHILLING RACK AND METHOD Filed July 30, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 r. 3 5 6 Z .5 M

Ma 726%619 M -Registered Aug. 13, 1929.

, UNITED; STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN ELLSWORTH COVEY, ororrrceeo, rumors, Assrenoa T sw m & oomrANY,

or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS.

BEEF-CHILLING BACK AND METHOD.

Application filed July 30,

This invention relates mainlyto the chilling of beef carcasses as conducted in packing houses and more especially to means. for

handling sides of beef and for ,forming and holding the same in predetermined shape while chilling and also to the method of accomplishing the objects herein set forth.

Heretofore the most general method of han: dling beef for chilling has long been to sus pend the sides endwise, as a result of which they become stretched and distorted; but recently methods and means have been devised for retaining the beef more nearly in its natural shape during the chilling process.'

An example of such recent method is described in the copending application of Paul O Smith, Serial No. 249,594, filed January 26, 1928, and an example of such retaining means appears in application Serial No.- 310,876, filed by Paul C. Smith and John O.

Agar on October 26, 1928. Other copending I considerations are herein provided for.

The main objects of this invention are to provide an improved form of support or rack, or traveling hanger style, adapted for holding sides of beef in the desired sha e while being chilled and thereby set in a su stantially rigid form ready for the market;

- to provide a form or mold to receivea side and hold it Well supported inpredetermined shape while chilling;to provide such a mold of light construction and of open, ventilated and sanitary design; to provide a convenient and flexibly operated method and means of the character described with a view to enhancing the value of the beef product, economizing laborv and minlmizmg. space used while chilling the beef; and to provide for ready interchange of parts of one rack or hanger with corresponding-parts of another rack, especially the beef troughs or molds, to the end that handling, sorting and routing of the beef sides may be'most facilitated.

" An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown by the accompanying drawings, in which These and other 1928. Serial No. 296,220.

Figure 1 is a side view of a four-compartment rack or-hanger mounted for travel on an overhead rail, the beef holding trays or molds. beingremovable and interchangeable.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of-the rack, with the rain in cross section and with a side of beef shown in place.

Fig. 3 is mainly similar to Fig. 2 except that .a mo -lied form of construction is shown, whe eby the mold holding arms are tiltably In nt'ed on the cross arms of the hanger.

Fig. 4 is a side view of an individual holder or mold of slightly modified construction, resting the positioning of a side of beef being indicated.

on the floor as shown in Fig. 5,

Fig. 5 is an end view of the mold of Fig.

at its top, as at 4, to a depending truck 5 carried on the overhead rail Each frame or end part '2 comprises an upright center bar 7 and a pair of W-bars 8 fixed crosswise thereon, one above the other,

'each with a horizontal brace 9 connecting its lower parts and fixed centrally on bar 7.- The- U-ends of each bar 8 serve as hook arms to support the ends of the trough shaped molds 3 which fit snugly therein and are there .held by gravity.

Each mold 3 is of suitable length to hold .a side of beef and comprises mainly a sheet metal body part 10 stiffened by a'pair of' longitudinal edge rails 11 and 12. The part lOis formed in U-shape from a rectangular sheet of No. 16 gaug'e galvanized iron with one side or wing 13 about twice as wide as the other wing 14. Stifl'ening bars 12 are,

to advantage applied. crosswise and riveted to plate 10 to maintain the desired U form. This plate is numerously perforated as at 10. for ventilation. An eye-bolt 15 is set in each end of the upper rail 12 to facilitate handling the molds when they are separate from the hangers 2, especially when loaded. 7

- In using this form ofdevice, the sides of arm of bar 26, where it is adjustably secured beef are brought to the transfer room on a truck suspended vertically on overhead trolleys, such as commonly used 111 packmg houses. Each side of beef, while thus suspended, is .placed in one of the molds 3 which is held upright and applied to the beef so that the back part fits in the bottom portion of the mold substantially as 1ndicated in Fig. 2, the split side being against the wide side of the mold. During this operation the mold also is suspended by one of the eyes 15 from an overhead trolley. As soon as the beef is in place, the lower end or free part of the mold is swung upward, as by means of tackle engaging the other eye'15, until the mold'is substantially horizontal, each end being supported by an independent truck 6. Themold with its load of beef is then raised or lowered sufliciently and swung into position in one of the four berths or: sections on the rack or hanger 'l which is also supported on a trolley. As soon as the four sections of the hanger are filled, it is run into the chilling room where it remains until the beef is sufficiently chilled and, set. As soon' as the beef is chilled it is removed and may be stored, ready for the market, in any manner desired, as for instance hung by the hind leg, the molded set being sufficient to hold the shape assumed until the beef is disposed of.

At the point of transfer, both for loading and for unloading the chilling racks, two or more trolley rails .are preferably disposed in somewhat spaced parallel relation. These may communicate wherever desired. This enables running the individual vertically suspended sides and-mold units alongside the racks, whereby handling is facilitated.

In the construction shown byFigure 3, the

structure and mode of operation are modified somewhat. Here each rack 21 is mainly similar to those of Figure 1, except that an additional brace member (hereinafter described) of inverted V-shape is added and instead of a W-bar being used to support the molds a pair of U-bars are pivoted to each end of the cross-bar.

More in detail each rack 21 comprises a pair of cross frames 22 and connecting bgrs 23 in combination with a set of molds 3 such as above described. Each end part 22 includes a center bar 24, a pair of' spaced cross bars 25together with inverted V-braces 26 therefor, U-bars 27 hinged at 27 to the ends of bars 25 and adjusting links 28 to hold the tilt of the U-bars in various positions as may be desired. Here each link 28 is secured to the long inner arm of bar 27 and extends inwardly across the adjacent by a bolt and thumb nut 29 coacting with the slotted part 30 of link 28..

This permits adjustable tilting of the arms 27 and molds 3 carried thereby, according to the position desired for the beef,

respecting its bearing on one side or the other, that is to say on its outer side or on its split side.

In using the form of device shown in Fig. 3, the molds 3 are loaded substantially as for the device of Fig. 1. In this instance however, the U-supports 27 are tilted to whatever position is desired and there clamped, in order to best accomplish the preferred disposition and corresponding setting of the beef. For example, if it be de sired that the weight rest mainly on the split side of the beef, the arms 27 are swung inward whereas if more weight is desired on'the back or outer side of the arms are swung outward, as will be understood.

Referring now to the somewhat modified form of mold. 33, shown in Figs. 5 .and 6, this device is adapted for use either independently, as apparent from Fig. 5, or in connection with a carrier frame such as shown by Figs. 2 and 3. The mold 33 com- .prises a U-plate 34:, mainly as in Fig. 1, in

combination with cross-bars 35 and a top edge rail 36, to the ends of which eye-bolts 15 are secured. The outer flange of the angle bar 36 has holes near the ends to receive the book ends of the removable braces 37, as will be apparent. As thus braced, when resting on the floor, the mold 33 may be more or less inclined according to specific needs by appropriate setting of the brace rods 37. These molds-33 may be loaded and used substantially as above described except that here shown they rest on the floor. They may be moved about by suspension from the overhead rail and suitable connections engaging the end bolts 15. It is'to be understood that each trolley rack or frame such as indicated at 1 and 21,.

may be hung on any sort of overhead wheeled trucks desired; and that these trucks may be and preferably are interchangeable. Eaeh of these racks takes care of two complete carcasses at a time.

The several molds herein referred to are all about eight feet long and the flat sides are about 26 and 9 inches wide respectively.

and connected by a curved bottom part formed on a three inch'radius or thereabouts. Although it is considered preferable and most convenient to have the molds detachable from the racks, this is not essential. The best position for the molds, generally speaking, is had when the wide side 13 is inclinpdat about 45 or more from horizontal. Being of sheet metal these molds can be kept clean readily and are washed frequently, preferably after eachuse. The perforations 16' permit thorough ventilation and help quick chilling. The carcass sides may be laid in the forms or molds at a central int and the loaded forms hoisted to their proper for a side of beef,

straighten the back; some weight from the chuck and plate is added to the rib cut; the

eye of the rib meat is more round in shape, thereby making it appear larger; the shape of the round is improved, giving it a more blocky appearance; the shank appears to be a little shorter; this process gives the entire carcass a more blocky appearance, which is highly desirable from a selling standpoint; the form or mold represents the ideal shape sides will have this ideal shape when chilled.

Moreover, eating tests seem toindicate that w beef treated by this method is actually more palatable and easy to masticate than when handled in the ol'dway and hung endwise in chilling. The advantages of this-process are maintained after the beef is chilled and hung on end, because the set of the carcass or side remains naturally after the chilling, especially when the beef is kept cold.

Although but two complete specific embodiments of this invention and certain variant details are herein shown and described, it is to be understood that no attempt has been made to show all practical forms and that numerous details of the constructions shown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim: f

1. A chilling mold for beef sidescompris ing a rigid oblong plate curved medially from end to end with one wing wider than the other.

2; An oblong, beef holder of U-shape-in cross section to mold the back part of a side of beef, in combination with'means to maintain saidholder resting mainly on its curved e ge.

3. A mold of the character described comprising a substantially rigid oblong sheet curved U-shape on a longitudinal zone relatively near one edge to fit about and mold the back part of a side of beef and to support the split side on thecwide wing of the mold.

{1. A device for carrying and supporting sides of beef, comprising-a pair 0 similar and by its use all cattle and substantially straight end frames and connections, adapted for travel on an overhead rail, in combination with a plurality of interchangeable troughlike molds supported on said frames, each adapted to receive a side of beef.

5. A device for carrying and supportingsides of beef, comprisinga pair of similar end frames and connectlons, adapted for travel on an overhead rail, in combination with a plurality of interchangeable troughlike molds sup orted on said frames, each adapted to receive a side of beef, each frame having a pair of opposite laterally disposed U-shaped arms disposed in a plane crosswise of the molds and the latter being formed relatively wide on one side to receive the split side of the beef. I

6. Adevice of the character described comprising a carrier'frame adapted to receive beef molds, said frame having U-bars hinged thereto to receive the molds, and means to adjust the tilt of said U-bars' according to a desired position for the mold.

7. A frame, a mold mounted tiltably there- I on and means to adjust the degree of tilting,

said mold being formed to fit and mold the backpart of a sideofbeef under the action of gravity on, the latter during chilling.

8. A rack adapted to be hung on a trolley rail and comprising a pair of end frames disposed crosswise and connections therefor in combination witha plurality of molds to receivesides of beef and to rest on said frames, said molds having means to facilitate ancillary connections for lifting them free of said frames-and suspending them uprightly for loading and unloading beef.

9. The method of treating sides of beef which consists in disposing them, while still warm and limp, on edge and in a substan-' tially horizontal position, back part down and then chilling the same in that position.

' i 10. The method of treating beef sides which consists in placing the same in hold- ,ers of appropriate shape to mold the back part of the beef to a predetermined form and then conveying the holders to a chilling room and there leaving the same until the beef has become chilled and set.

11. The method of treating beef I sides' which consists in placing the same while still warm and limp on edge, back side down,

in molds of appropriate design andthen subjecting them to the action of gravity in achilling atmosphere until rigidly set. Signed at Chicago this .28. J

25th day of-July,

' OHN ELLSWORTH oovEY. 

